Skilful Means is the key principle of the great tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. First set out extensively in the Lotus Sutra, it originates in the Buddha's compassionate project for helping others to transcend the ceasless round of birth and death. His strategies or interventions are 'skilful means' - devices which lead into enlightenment and nirvana. Mich'l Pye's clear and engaging introductory guide presents the meaning of skilful means in the formative writings, traces its antecedents in the legends of early Buddhism and explores links both with the Theravada tradition and later Japanese Buddhism. First published in 1978, the book remains the best explanation of this dynamic philosophy, which is essential for any complete understanding of Buddhism.

Michael Pye was born in 1939 in England, and studied Modern Languages and Theology at Cambridge, England (1958-61) as an Open Scholar of Clare College. He then spent five years in Japan before holding lecturing posts in Religious Studies at Lancaster and Leeds (where he was also awarded a Ph.D.). Since 1982 he has been Professor of Religious Studies at Marburg University, Germany, interleaved with a three year period as Professor of Religious Studies at Lancaster University, England. He was President of the International Association for the History of Religions (1995-2000). Apart from a specialised interest in East Asian Buddhism and contemporary Japanese religions he is widely travelled and has interests in broad issues of religion and society in the modern world. Selected publications: Ernst Troeltsch: Writings on Theology and Religion (with Robert Morgan, Duckworth, London 1977), Skilful Means, A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism (Duckworth, London 1978), Emerging from Meditation (Duckworth, London 1990), Macmillan Dictionary of Religion (Macmillan, London 1993); also many articles on various aspects of the study of religion, in particular on Japanese religion.

Acknowledgements viiConventions viiiPreface to the Second Edition ix1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Buddhist skilful means 1 The literature of skilful means 3 Problems of terminology 82 THE INITIAL TEACHING OF SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA 18 Sariputra's perplexity 18 The opening exposition 20 The longer exposition in prose 23 The longer exposition in verse (i) 25 The longer exposition in verse (ii) 27 The longer exposition in verse (iii) 293 STORIES ABOUT SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA 37 The burning house 37 The son who does not recognise himself 40 The rain-cloud and other similes 42 Stories of unexpected treasure 45 The magic city 47 The Buddha's life-span and the story of the physician 494 MYTHOLOGY AND SKILFUL MEANS IN THE LOTUS SUTRA 60 Illumination of all worlds 60 The equivalence of all buddhas 65 Transformations of a bodhisattva 715 SKILFUL MEANS IN THE TEACHING OF VIMALAKIRTI 83 The skill of a Buddhist saint 83 Vimalakirti's illness 88 Vimalakirti and Manjusri 916 SKILFUL MEANS IN THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT LITERATURE 101 Insight and skilful means 101 Skilful means as a way of taking things 103 Madhyamika connections 1087 SKILFUL MEANS IN PRE-MAHAYANA BUDDHISM 117 The decision to proclaim Dhamma 117 Buddhist correlational technique 123 The persistence of Buddhist meaning 1268 THE TERM HOBEN IN MODERN JAPANESE 137 Colloquial Japanese: use mo hoben 137 Spectrum of usage in reference works 140 Response of Buddhists to general usage 145 Hoben in sectarian Buddhism 1489 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 158APPENDIX A: BRIEF NOTE ON THE MAIN TEXTS USED 164APPENDIX B: HISTORICO-CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE LOTUS SUTRA 167APPENDIX C: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE LOTUS SUTRA 182APPENDIX D: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE TEACHING OF VIMALAKIRTI 186APPENDIX F: OCCURRENCES OF FANG-PIEN IN THE PERFECTION OF INSIGHT SUTRAS, ETC 188APPENDIX F: SKILFUL MEANS IN THE SURAMGAMASAMADHI SUTRA 193Bibliography 197Index 202